


Two-Thousand Miles

by Turtle_ier



Series: Turtle's MCYT AUs [8]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Cold Weather, Couch Cuddles, Crack Treated Seriously, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic, Fluff, Gen, Holidays, Platonic Cuddling, Roommates, Shopping, Sleepy Cuddles, forced togetherness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27818836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turtle_ier/pseuds/Turtle_ier
Summary: October had been kind to them.Moving in meant a new beginning for the three of them and it was a welcome change from stepping on their parents toes, waking up their flatmates all the time, and from living alone. They both envied Dream a little for that last reason, but he insisted that it was awful for someone who was as social as himself.But now it was December. On the 31st of October the UK had been told about the full-scale lockdown coming into effect, and then the warnings came of it potentially continuing over Christmas.And then the heating broke.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Turtle's MCYT AUs [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875367
Comments: 11
Kudos: 247





	Two-Thousand Miles

October had been kind to them.

It meant a new beginning for the three of them and it was a welcome change from stepping on their parents toes, waking up their flatmates all the time, and from living alone. They both envied Dream a little for that last reason, but he insisted that it was awful for someone who was as social as himself. 

But now it was December. On the 31st of October the UK had been told about the full-scale lockdown coming into effect, and then the warnings came of it potentially continuing over Christmas. 

And then the heating broke. 

“Why the hell did we move to England?” Sapnap shivered on the couch, “This place _sucks_.”

Across the room, only two or so metres away in their little three bed semi, George shrugged beneath his three jumpers, the one which they could see being the biggest and probably Dream’s, but Dream would never know since he kept leaving them everywhere. If it was in his room, it was his, and if it was anywhere else then he immediately lost responsibility for it and left it there forever. Or until George moved it. Whichever. 

“We moved here to change scenery!” Dream yelled from the kitchen, and he slammed the cupboard door beside the back door, “And besides,” he appeared in the doorway with a sandwich, “It’s not like we were able to find anywhere in Miami or Austin, so Reading was the obvious choice, right?”

George stole one of the triangle sandwiches off Dream’s plate and left towards the kitchen, the outermost sleeve riding down to his elbow while the blue hoodie and black shirt beneath it stayed in place. Sapnap glared at his retreating figure and pulled his duvet up over his nose. 

As George insisted, it wasn't _that_ cold in the house, but for two people who usually lived in a tropical climate then it was a nightmare dealing with the lack of heat. The worst part was them not being able to organise a handyman coming around to fix it, as the landlord wouldn't allow them to endanger someone in the middle of a lockdown. 

Understandable, but still annoying. 

“Are you going home?” Dream asked him, and Sapnap removed his nose from the blanket. 

“Huh?”

“For the winter. Or the holidays, I guess.”

Sapnap paused for a second before shrugging and looking out of the back window. The garden was no less depressing than usual, but it gave him something to look at, at least. 

“I don't know,” he said, “I think George said that he was staying here – “

A shout from the kitchen, “I am!”

“- So if I do stay I won't be alone. You?”

Dream came and sat on the couch beside him, and even with a plate held above his head in one hand like a particularly skilled waiter, he managed to steal all the covers. 

“I was planning on going, but I’d need to stay in a hotel for two weeks since, you know with my mom…”

Sapnap nodded. 

“I don't know. It just seemed like a pain in the ass to go through all the effort.”

“I get that.”

The living room was slightly dark with it being three in the afternoon and all that, even with the curtains open, so Dream left the cocoon with his mouth full to turn on the standing lamp beside the TV. It lit up the room quite well, and George had something against using the overhead ones, so it was a welcome addition. 

Dream went back to the couch. Sapnap got up to go get Dream’s duvet from his room since the best form of revenge was to steal what the other had never intended to leave behind. Or something. 

“That’s mine,” Dream said.

“Stop talking with your mouth full.”

“George?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you make me another sandwich?”

“No. Stop eating with your mouth full.”

“Eating?”

“Talking. Either.”

Dream swallowed. “Will you make me another sandwich now?”

“Dude you’re getting crumbs all in my sheets.”

“As if there wasn't crumbs in there already. George?”

George came into the living room and took Dream’s plate before handing him another one. Dream looked at the bread sandwich.

“There’s no filling.”

“There’s a bread filling.”

“George, it’s three slices of bread.”

“That’s because someone didn't get more groceries.”

The two of them looked at Sapnap. Sapnap put his toes on Dream’s.

“That’s gay.”

“I have socks on.”

“I don't.”

“That’s true.”

George sighed and leaned against the side of the couch. His (Dream’s) yellow jumper looked even more yellow in the lamp light and the two of them looked over to the oldest. George glanced at them and took the corner of his thumb out of his mouth, as if denying it happening meant that it hadn't happened.

“Let’s go to Tesco.”

“I hate Tesco, let’s go to Sainsbury’s.”

Sapnap talked over them both to say, “How about we go to Lidl and ‘spend on average half of what we would on a shop at other name brand supermarkets’?” 

“I hate you.”

“Stop quoting that advert.”

“So is that a no?”

The two of them paused to look at one another and then back to Sapnap. Sapnap just raised an eyebrow at the two of them as if he had just declared checkmate in a game of chess, like he was the leader of the board when in reality they were trying to play ‘ _Hungry Hippos’._ George rolled his eyes and stood. Dream took a bite of the bread sandwich. 

“Fine,” George sighed, his dreams of decent ready meals and decent ketchup dashed, “Let’s go to Lidl.”

“Let’s get some of this green stuff,” Dream said, looking at the world's worst holiday decorations.

It was a well-known fact that all the awful quality Christmas ornaments ended up in the supermarkets, and considering how the supermarkets in the UK could easily be put on a list from highest quality to lowest, it was no surprise that Lidl came dead last in the homeware department. 

“What green stuff?” George came to look at the same stuff Dream was looking at, and when he spied the decoration in question he scoffed and walked back to Sapnap and the trolly. 

“What does he have?” Sapnap asked, and Dream turned around with a sprig of plastic holly in his hand. 

“It’s mistletoe!” Dream said, holding up the holly as he came over to them.

Sapnap put up both arms to stop him from getting closer, and George went around the trolly at a speed he had never reached before. Dream was laughing at them as he tried to duck around Sapnap’s arms. 

“That’s holly, idiot,” George said as he evaded Dream again and went over to the batch of plastic decorations, before he held up another, different, piece of green plastic. He declared, “ _this_ is mistletoe.” 

Dream came back and threw the holly into the pile of decorations. He grabbed the hand George was holding the mistletoe in, pulled down his own face mask and licked George’s hand. 

“That’s not a kiss,” George said, wiping the back of his hand on Dream’s shoulder. Dream just laughed at him and pulled his mask back up. Dream’s mask had a custom printed smile over his mouth, similar to the one on all his icons, and Sapnap had rolled his eyes when it had come in the mail until Dream handed him one of his own. George was boring and said it was ‘cringe’ and ‘brought attention to them’, so he wore one with a shark on it instead. 

“Can we go now?” Sapnap leaned his head on the trolly’s handle, “I’m tired and I’m cold. I want to sit in bed and eat ice cream.”

“That’ll make you colder.”

“Yeah, I know how hot and cold things work, _George_.”

“We need these,” Dream said, pulling the cart away from Sapnap so that he could push it down the snack aisle. For such a small supermarket, it was a valid question to ask why they had so many snacks. 

“I’m going to get bread,” George said, and he disappeared. 

Sapnap trailed behind Dream, casting his eyes across the off-branded crisps and the various gummy sweets whose flavour could only be described as ‘artificial’ and nothing else. Strawberry sweets that didn't taste of strawberry, blackcurrant (whatever that was) that didn't taste of… something, and cola that didn't taste of, well, actually cola was already an artificial flavouring, wasn't it?

“What snacks are you getting?” Dream asked, looking between the pringles and the off-branded and half the priced ones. 

Sapnap looked blankly at the sweets, but for that price, he pulled a packet of mini pretzels off the shelf and threw it into the cart. And then another one. And then one for George (although, that would probably end up being Sapnap’s as well). 

George came back with a box of teabags, some bread, and three 2-packs of garlic bread. He crushed Sapnap’s pretzels as he dumped them on top, and as Sapnap went to say something, Dream threw a pack of the off-brand crisps into the cart too. 

“Do we need anything else?”

“We drove, right?” Sapnap asked.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s get that cheap soda.”

“But it’s _so shit_ ,” Dream said.

Sapnap shrugged, “we can't afford the good stuff.”

“We _can_ ,” Dream said, “We just _shouldn't_.”

“Right. But we still shouldn't spend the money,” George said. 

“Yeah,” Sapnap said, “so cheap soda.”

“So _no soda_ ,” George said, and he threw one of the bags of pretzels back onto the shelf, “Dream, can you put these back?”

George shoved a packet of frozen spring rolls into his arms, and Dream grabbed one of the garlic breads to put back too, despite George telling him to leave it alone. Sapnap looked at the contents of their trolly, then to the top of the shelves where there were rows and rows of Christmas and holiday related items. Even though George was being finicky about what made it into the cart, the older of the two caught Sapnap’s gaze and they both looked up at a pack of snowflake-shaped lights. 

“If we’re staying here over Christmas,” Sapnap said, “Do you think we should… decorate or anything?”

George shrugged, and the three pieces of clothing he was wearing went up and down with the motion. Sapnap still felt cold. 

“But where would we stop?” George asked, “Decorations, food, drinks, gifts, letters…”

“...a tree, lights, jumpers, Christmas music, dancing…”

“...gift shopping, cookies, gingerbread…”

“...Mulled wine… cheese…”

“... I’m getting these,” Sapnap said, and he wasn't tall enough to reach them. 

George reached for a different box, one that he was actually able to grab without pulling a muscle to get them, which contained a string of lights with separate, dangling sections which were probably supposed to look like icicles, but really just looked like lights. He looked over the side of it, making sure that it was for inside use and that it plugged into the wall instead of using batteries, and he tossed the £5 box (bargain) into the trolly. Dream hadn't returned yet, but George started pushing the cart towards the checkout. 

Dream came back with approximately eight bags of baked goods.

“I’ll pay for these,” he said, dumping the arm full into the cart, “I got those chewy pretzels, the bagels you like George, some chocolate croissants, a pizza swirl, and two cinnamon rolls.”

“They’re _pain au chocolat_ ,” George corrected him.

“I’m pretty sure they’re cinnamon rolls,” Sapnap said, picking one up, “but if ‘pan ew choco latte’ is cinnamon roll in French then cool, good for you, George.” 

“No. You know what? Forget it.” 

So instead of leaving the apartment barren over the holidays, Dream, Sapnap and George started piling up tinsel on every available surface, letting it drape over the curtain rail and the banister up the stairs, and the lights they had bought were already hanging from the ceiling and over the living room window. They hadn't bought a tree, after much arguing in the checkout queue, but Sapnap had still managed to grab the tinsel. Trees were overrated, anyway. 

“It makes it more special,” Dream had said. 

“It makes it more barren in here,” George told him now.

Outside was raining, as it often did in England, and so instead of Dream’s face being lit up by the fading evening sunlight, his eyes twinkled in the multicoloured lights as he pouted. Sapnap was buried under the now two duvets on the couch, still shivering from when he had got wet emptying the car. 

“It’s not my fault that these tiny English houses have like 3 sockets in a room.”

“And it’s not _my_ fault someone used up the last extension lead for the dancing reindeer near their computer, one which they’d apparently brought with them to England all the way from America, now is it?”

Dream chuckled, putting a hand behind his head to scratch at his neck, but he kept looking at George as the shorter man clambered up the couch and avoided Sapnap to put the lights on the curtain rail properly. It was visible from the window, and apparently that meant that they had to put in extra effort, even if it was a pain in the ass to do.

Sapnap reached out of his duvet fort and held on to George’s ankle, as if it would do anything to stabilize him.

“That isn't useful,” George said.

“I miss you,” Sapnap said and rubbed his hair into the couch. 

“I'm right here,” Dream said, putting his hands out to the side. Sapnap looked at him over the covers and winked. 

“Come here big boy,” Sapnap said, and George wobbled. 

Dream came and put his hands-on George’s waist, which was better than his ankle, but Sapnap just reached out with his other hand and held around Dream’s knee. He sighed. Dream looked at him. 

“What’s up?”

“I’m just thinking about how I could be totally cuddling my bros right now if George had settled on getting the lights _I_ had wanted.”

“Which were those?” Dream asked, looking back up as George put a hand on his shoulder to be helped down. 

“They were lights with snowflakes around them,” Sapnap said, and Dream pulled a face. George laughed at him.

“That’s tacky,” Dream told him. Sapnap pulled the covers over his head. 

George wandered over to his laptop on the other side of the room, one that he used almost exclusively for his Spotify and for nothing actually useful, and he booted it up. Dream pulled one of the blankets off of Sapnap and got into the bed/couch, his back to the other man’s chest. 

“Jeez, Sapnap, your hands are freezing.” 

“Can I warm them on you?”

“Hands above the waist.”

Sapnap’s hands creeped under Dream’s shirt and he wiggled his fingers up his sides. Dream thrashed like a fish and Sapnap pulled his hands out of his shirt, laughing. 

The beginnings of ‘ _Let It Snow_ ’ started to play out of George’s speakers, but then it shut off, and the beginnings to a song that neither of the others recognised began to play softly over the speakers. 

“What song is this?” Dream asked, raising his head to look over at George. 

“It’s ‘ _Two-Thousand Miles_ ’, it’s my favourite Christmas song.”

“It sounds like a waltz,” Sapnap mumbled into Dream’s neck, and the tickling feeling of it brushing over Dream’s neck made him flop around again; a caterpillar in the duvet. 

“I mean,” George’s voice stuttered, like it did when he didn't know what to say, “I mean, I guess.”

“Do you want to dance, George?” Dream asked, and he had that self-satisfied smirk on his face like he wanted to dance only to flirt or embarrass the other man. George shook his head. 

“No. No, thanks. What songs do you want on after?”

“I want ‘ _Step into Christmas_ ’,” Sapnap mumbled, and miraculously, George heard. 

“Dream?” he asked.

“Put on ‘ _Lonely This Christmas_ ’? For me?”

“Are you lonely, Dream?”

“No,” Dream said, “I just want to relax now. George, your song has got me all sleepy.” 

“It’s a good song!”

“I never said it wasn't.”

“Come here,” Sapnap commanded, his hands tightening around Dream’s waist, “I’m still cold. This house is shit.”

George laughed, which was easy for him to do with his three stolen jumpers, but instead of coming any closer he disappeared from the room – a recurring theme, they realised – but he soon returned with his own duvet. He threw the two off of Sapnap and Dream before slotting himself between Sapnap and the couch cushion, and pulled the two duvets back over them. Then, he wriggled to pull the third duvet on top. The lights twinkled as it got darker, and the rain on the window caught the light just enough to look comforting. 

George buried his nose into Sapnap’s neck.

“You were not kidding, you _are_ cold,” he said. 

“What, you thought I was lying?”

“I’m hungry,” Dream said, “What did we get to eat?”

“Bread,” George responded, “Uhm, and garlic bread, and some bagels, and the _pain au chocolat_ that you picked up.”

“So… bread.” Dream said. 

Sapnap chucked, invisible save for the top of his head between the two other men and the three duvets. 

“You’re going to be having some more bread sandwiches then, huh, Dream?” 

“Shut up, Sapnap,” Dream said, squirming so that he faced George and Sapnap, “At least I have snacks. George put your ones back.”

“What the _hell_ , George?” 

George shrugged, “We’ll steal Dream’s when he isn't looking.”

“I’ll lick them,” Dream promised, burying his head into Sapnap’s hair. His feet hung off the other end of the couch. 

“Is that a promise?”

“Yeah.”

“Hot.”

“No.”

“Guys, can we...?”

They quieted down, listening to the beginnings of ‘ _Lonely This Christmas_ ’ come through the speakers across the room, and in the lull of the conversation they could hear the rain falling against the window. Sapnap sighed, like he was deflating before finally going to sleep, and the other two let themselves fall back into the cushions. The lights really did look nice, and even if the tinsel was a bit tacky, that was what it was all about. 

They’d think about gifts, central heating, and food later. For now it was nice to just fall asleep on the couch and listen to the music and the rain. 

Until Dream fell off the couch, that is, but that was for later. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays!  
> I hope in this chaotic and upsetting year that you've at least had a good end-of-the-year. I know that this year I've been using fandom and fanfiction as a means of distracting myself from everything going on, and I really am thankful for the fact that you've all been here with me giving me feedback. I want to say thank you. 
> 
> This is a little different from what I usually write, if you cant tell, so I hope it's pretty good either way :) 
> 
> Thanks again, have a good one!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: @turtle-ier  
> Find me on Twitter: @Turtle_ier


End file.
